SEO Manager

Lightburn•Milwaukee, WI

5h•Hybrid

About The Position

Lightburn is a 20-person digital agency in Milwaukee, WI, specializing in B2B and manufacturing clients. We are seeking an SEO Manager to lead search strategy for our client portfolio. This role requires a deep understanding of how content, site structure, and search intent intersect, along with a curiosity for the future of search. The position involves research, strategic planning, and execution, collaborating with the digital marketing team to create keyword strategies, guide content recommendations, and enhance client visibility in an evolving search landscape that includes AI-generated answers.

Requirements

4+ years of experience in SEO or digital marketing with a strong SEO focus.
Agency or professional services experience strongly preferred.
Proven ability to develop SEO strategy and content optimization roadmaps.
Strong keyword research and search intent analysis skills that translate into real recommendations.
Experience developing content briefs and site structure recommendations.
Technical SEO fluency: site structure, crawlability, structured data, page speed.
Comfort working across multiple client accounts with different industries and needs.
Strong written and verbal communication skills.

Nice To Haves

Genuine curiosity about how search algorithms work and where the industry is headed.
A point of view on generative search and AI-driven visibility.
Ability to balance strategic thinking with hands-on execution.
Entrepreneurial spirit and comfort with increasing autonomy.
Collaborative attitude and willingness to share learnings with the team.

Responsibilities

Develop keyword strategies, shape content recommendations, and build visibility for clients.
Conduct keyword research and search intent analysis to inform site structure, new pages, and content priorities.
Formulate a perspective on how clients can appear in AI-driven search experiences and traditional results.
Create content briefs and optimization roadmaps for internal teams and clients.
Perform on-page and technical SEO tasks for client websites.
Collaborate with developers on technical SEO priorities.
Design and execute experiments to test hypotheses and improve performance.
Provide clear reporting on search performance and trends using modern tools.
Contribute to defining SEO success metrics in an evolving field.
Deliver actionable recommendations for clients and internal teams.